The Philadelphia 76ers have taken rebuilding to a whole new level. They pretty much gave away Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes before the trade deadline and ultimately trotted out a D-League caliber team on the floor. As a result, the Sixers tied an NBA record by losing 26 straight games.
With the abysmal season behind them, Philly will look to build around NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel (even though he missed all of this past season while recovering from injury.) The 76ers will have a pair of lottery picks and a ton of cap space to play with this off-season.
Philadelphia 76ers (19-63 last year)
2014-15 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Nerlens Noel/*Byron Mullens/^Henry Sims
PF: Thaddeus Young/^Brandon Davies/Arnett Moultrie/^Jarvis Varnado
SF: ^Hollis Thompson/#Adonis Thomas
SG: ^James Anderson/*Jason Richardson/^Elliot Williams
PG: Michael Carter-Williams/Tony Wroten
NBA Free Agents:
*SG-Jason Richardson (PO)
*C-Byron Mullens (PO)
^C-Henry Sims (TO)
^SG-James Anderson (TO)
^SF-Hollis Thompson (TO)
^PF-Brandon Davies (TO)
^SG-Elliot Williams (TO)
#SF-Adonis Thomas (RFA)
2014-15 Team Salary: approximately $33.5 million
Team Needs:
1. Small Forward:
Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker would be an ideal fit for the Sixers here since they have no small forward on their roster. Philadelphia pretty much gave away Evan Turner prior to the trade deadline so this is a huge area of need to add wing help. If they end up with Joel Embiid at #3 in the NBA Draft, Philly could use their second lottery pick to fill this need or find a cheap free agent to fill the void.
2. Shooting Guard:
Jason Richardson holds a player option on the final year of his deal and James Anderson’s contract is not guaranteed for next season. Even if both guys return, they are short term fixes more so than long term solutions. Look for Philly to target a shooting guard of the future with one of their first round picks to hopefully find a future backcourt mate for Carter-Williams.
3. Post Scorer:
Even if Nerlens Noel is ready to make an impact and Thaddeus Young returns, Philly doesn’t have a real low post scoring threat. Noel is more of a shot blocking/rebounding presence who possesses little offensive game while Young plays on the perimeter more than in the paint. Embiid would be a solution to this issue.
4. Shop Young:
The 76ers have completely blown up the ship… with the exception of Thaddeus Young. Philly needs to stick to that script and see if they can parlay Young into more future assets, perhaps another first round pick.
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.